Marple Local History Society Trips

Each year members of the Society have a choice of trips to various historical locations to choose from, the cost of which varies dependent on the destination.

Some times we leave Marple early in the morning to visit factories and mills many miles away before returning in the evening. We've been to Blackpool to climb the tower, eating fish and chips to fortify us for a trip on a tram to see the lights. We've also had an afternoon trip along the Peak Forest Canal before a buffet at the Ring o' Bells.

20 people plus one handsome dog joined Neil Mullineux on Monday evening for his history tour of Glossop. We met at the car park at Melandra Fort (though one needs imagination to see the fort). From here Neil explained the topography of the valleys and how this influenced the various landowners over the years, including the Romans, the Abbots of Basingwerk and latterly perhaps “more recently”, the Dukes of Norfolk and several prominent mill owners. It was a glorious summer’s evening and it was a pleasure to stand on the hillside and survey one of the gateways to the Peak District.

All Saints Churchyard - Hilary Atkinson,15th May

With three walks to come, the Festival of Evening Strolls started for the Society, with this story of three churches in one. The bolt-on, to the Society’s season, that proved so successful last year, has been re-energized, by popular demand. Future visits to Glossop and Bugsworth Basin lay in store, as Monday 15th May dawned, the date of the first walk, the day of delving into the history of All Saint’s. Would the weather co-operate on the first summer outing?

Our Spring visit was a day of two halves: industrial heritage in the morning followed by an afternoon tour of an historic mansion and the opportunity to stroll around gardens in the warm sunshine.

An early start of 9.00.a.m. was more than compensated for by a pleasant drive through Derbyshire to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet on the outskirts of Sheffield. Once the largest water powered industrial site on the River Sheaf, it has been a place of metal working for hundreds of years......

How long have you lived in Stockport?What is that building opposite the Town Hall?Have you ever visited it?

The chances are that you have never been to the Stockport War Memorial and Art Gallery. If you haven’t, you should be ashamed of yourself as it is a gem; unique, not just in England but in the world. It is the only building, anywhere, designed and purpose-built as a combined war memorial and art gallery. There are now forty people from Marple History who can look their friends in the eye; they have been and they have learned a lot. Lynda Jenkins organised one of the most moving tours the society has sponsored.

Standing at the junction of London Road and Whitworth Street, the building has been largely empty since 1986, gradually deteriorating. It has been a Grade II* listed building since 1974 but that did little to save it. From this prime position it stared reproachfully at every one of the thousands arriving at Piccadilly each day. After years of inaction Manchester finally got tough with the owners. It has now been sold on to another company, Allied London, who will start development in the spring.....